


Around the Clock

by hyperionnebulae



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (Anime & Manga), Yu-Gi-Oh! GX
Genre: Alcohol, Crossover, F/F, F/M, Gen, M/M, Multi, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-04
Updated: 2019-12-04
Packaged: 2021-02-25 22:00:40
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,990
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21672601
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hyperionnebulae/pseuds/hyperionnebulae
Summary: Short pieces strung together from the perspectives of Jim Cook, Asuka Tenjoin, Camula, Mai Kujaku, Tanya, and Otogi Ryuji.Reactions to holidays and their relationships with people around the world.
Relationships: Ishizu Ishtar/Kujaku Mai | Mai Valentine, Johan Andersen | Jesse Anderson/Yuuki Juudai | Jaden Yuki, Marufuji Ryou | Zane Truesdale/Edo Phoenix | Aster Phoenix, Misawa Daichi | Bastion Misawa/Tanya
Comments: 5
Kudos: 15
Collections: Yu-Gi-Oh! It's Time to G-G-G-Gift! [Mini-Exchange]





	Around the Clock

**Author's Note:**

  * For [RustedWireWitch](https://archiveofourown.org/users/RustedWireWitch/gifts).



> I wanted to write a piece in the spirit of all the friendships I owe to this fandom and bring together the cultural influence from all over that world. I know it's not possible for me to write this all seamlessly as most of these cultures are not my own but I wanted to at least nod in appreciation of them. Cross-overs at the meta level, if you will.  
> Thank you Yu-Gi-Oh! for everything and to everyone reading this; Happy Holidays!

8AM, January 1 - New South Wales, Australia

Jim Cook put out the campfire from the night before. Shirley didn’t stir as he came near her but he knew she might not be fully asleep. He sighs as the embers die down and glances around the camp.

The wheelie bin lay on its side from the pick-up cricket game. The smell of potato salad and barbeque cut through the haze with the dwindling smoke of the dying fire. Maybe he had some leftover pavlova he could snack on later... It had been a good night. The other campers may have smuggled in fireworks from the northern territory but they hadn’t created too much of a disturbance. Everyone else seemed to still be asleep.

The Aussie flipped open his cellphone to check over social media and see what his friends may have posted during the holidays.

Judai had gone to visit Johan’s Swedish family. It had to still be December for a few more hours there right? The two had been surprisingly quiet on social media since Christmas. There was plenty of pictures of Julbocken figures and Judai’s expression at trying lussekatter and julmust. The saffron buns looked deliteful and, someday, when Jim had a steadier paying job with time off, he would make his way out there as a surprise.

He looked at the clock on his phone. Probably too early for his Japanese friends to be up yet. He would give everyone a few more hours before he sent around the “Happy New Years!”

Hopefully 2020 was indeed a happy year for everyone.

-

6AM, January 1 - Tokyo, Japan

Asuka Tenjoin opened her eyes to a rustling in the next room; it seemed her brother still did that, after all of these years, huh. She turned over. Junko and Momoe were snuggled up fast asleep.

It was still a few hours before everyone would rise and go to the shrine.

She sighed. The past year had been really good for her. Her job had required some travelling but most of the time it was just a few hours away. It allowed her to stay close to her brother and… she hated to admit that, that made her feel more incontrol of the situation. Atticus may have graduated from Duel Academy in good standing, considering everything that had happened, but since… he had seemed noticeably restless. She wasn’t the only one worried; she reminded herself; even in the last 24 hours, Sho and Johan had asked about Atticus and his lack of presence. She knew her brother would figure it out, in the end.

Maybe the shrine would offer him some peace.

Her phone, on the side table, lit up with a text from Ryo. Well it was his number but, when she opened it, she noticed it was clearly from his younger brother. She then remembered Sho’s phone had broken the day before, anyways. It was a snapshot of Edo and Ryo clinking champagne glasses. Edo looked his usual dapper self, in contrast to Ryo’s carefully neutral, reserved presentation. Asuka smirked at the slightest hint of a blush on the taller man’s cheeks. 

The caption read “Should I tell him?”

She responded back, “I’d say it was risky to use your brother’s phone to send this but I think he might still be too dense.”

She received back a winky face and the promise to see them at the shrine in a few hours.

Asuka confirmed the time and snuggled back into her girlfriends, attempting a few more minutes of rest.

-

11PM, December 31st, Sofia, Bulgaria

It was strange to be in this modern time. All this technology and socializing just to be seen… gone were the days of simply showing up at some village and making men play gaida for her. Gone was the old tradition entirely.

Camila stared out at the city night lights. The New Year wasn’t such a big deal when you had lived as many as she had. At least it wasn’t Christmas and the cuisine included meat! Finally the neighbors’ rooster had gotten swept into the feast. Sure, they’d get a new one in a week or two but, until then, being a monster wouldn’t be so tough.

A cell phone chimed. 

She glanced over but not needing to open the text to know that some of her “friends” had probably just gotten engaged or divorced. That’s what young people did right? New Years seemed to be all about that.

The other good thing about Christmas being over was the absence of koledari “violently” wishing her good luck. She had certainly been hit with enough survachka for several lifetimes… Next year she would go down to Tuscany for Confuego instead; at least the laurel they burned smelled nice.

She nibbled on some leftover pitka bread and flipped some of the decorative coins over in her fingers. It wasn’t all bad really.

-

10PM December 31st, Paris, France

This was certainly the fanciest party Mai Kujaku had been invited to, to celebrate the New Year, or at least the most expensive. She was pretty sure the wine in her glass was worth more than the dress she was wearing. She didn’t want to contemplate how expensive the glass was that held the liquid.

Her wife smiled at her, from across the room, as a short man rambled on in French about… well she couldn’t keep up to be honest and the idle chatter around the room wasn’t helping her not be distracted from it. Honestly, Isis had given her an out ten minutes ago by reminding her that the beverage and small plates table was less occupied. So far the best parts of the French language, in Mai’s opinion, were the variety of fashion expressions and the food!

Knowing that Isis wouldn’t be interested in the meats available, she took the opportunity to sample the endives au jambon. The ham and cheese variation did elevate her mood quite a lot. She was quite the socialite back in Japan but the language barrier here did little to help. 

She thought a bit back to the difference of the year, since the small wedding to Isis, and smiled. Her wife was an expert on navigating languages. Being asked to arrange an international modern art exhibit in Paris was a testament to that. Mai was honestly in awe of the process, and all the intermediary steps, required to obtain some of the items. It would seem as though some countries were less than okay with these stuffy Europeans handling their work. Quite the history there… interesting.

Mai didn’t jump as Isis’s hand slid across her back, leaning into it even.

“I hope the company isn’t too boring. I had hoped to head out early and find somewhere less crowded to toast the New Year b-”

Mai had picked up a gland pȃtissier and shoved it into her wife’s open mouth; she smiled as the vanilla cream poured out the side.

“I promise I don’t care how we spend the night, as long as it is together.” Mai said.

Isis wiped her mouth with a napkin and kissed Mai. Mai took the obligatory selfie of the two of them for social media.

-

5PM, December 31st, São Paulo, Brazil

Tanya didn’t particularly care for the holidays, this time of year. She had long since turned her phone off from all of the selfies and marriage announcements. Her and Daichi shared a bowl of romãs, but even the pomegranates weren’t sweet enough to pull her away from the inevitability of one of her closest friends leaving tomorrow. 

Daichi Misawa wasn’t good at distracting her from those thoughts. Over the past year, during which he had been in Brazil for his chemistry work, she had showed him many of the traditions here. He had agreed to go to Carnaval just days after he had flown here last February.

The fake marriage ceremony as part of Festa Junina had been most amusing as he had pretended, alongside the kids, to be burned by the paper fire. Sharing the quadrilha dance with him was something special in it’s own right.

She sighed and fiddled with the letter in her pocket, that she had been too shy to give him, even anonymously, during correio elegante. Tanya just wasn’t good at goodbyes.

Daichi sat up suddenly, mid sentence cutting himself off from going down a checklist of things, that he needed to pack in the morning.

“Oh, I almost forgot!” He departed for a side room and left her sitting there confused.

He returned with an envelope and looking a tad sheepish.

“So I talked with your coworkers and they thought they might be able to arrange for you to have some extra days of vacation this year. I… don’t have a big place back in Japan or anything but my roommates have to travel for work for a bit so it would just be us. I booked the tickets without asking so I hope that is ok-”

She didn’t let him finish wrapping him into a huge hug that knocked the breath of him.

After a minute she let go of him and shrugged.

“Of course I’ll come; it would be silly of me to say ‘no’.” 

He beamed.

She continued, “I do hope your place allows pets though.” She gestured at the sleeping bengal tiger taking up the majority of the loveseat in the corner of the room. “Because Bass is coming too.”

Daichi laughs awkwardly and rubs the back of his neck. “I’m sure we can figure it out.”

-

4PM, December 31st, Syracuse, NY, United States

Steam pooled out of a Chestnut Praline Latte size Grande sitting in window of the Starbucks on Jefferson Street. The beverage owner was gazing off, out the window, watching the snow fall. 

This wasn’t exactly what Otogi Ryuji had had in mind when he was asked to travel to gaming corporate locations, for work. There was nothing wrong with this city, in particular, of course; it had all the amenities of any location of its size, the people were nice enough, this coffee was pretty much the same as any of its chain. It was just… not home.

He started scrolling through his phone looking at pictures posted by the gang. Sure the holidays were just different in Japan than in the United States, but cold weather did seem to bring about celebrations. Being across the world meant that Otogi couldn’t throw snowballs at Jou or Honda, it meant that he couldn’t catch snowflakes on his tongue with Shizuka or… dang he started thinking about western traditions in trying to come up with seasonal memories.. Was the distance really starting to get under his skin? 

He thought about every peppermint-flavored beverage he had tried since being here. He thought about the cramped ice skating down in Clinton Square, laughing at shopping mall Santas, and watching cliché Hallmark movies. 

It’s not like he hadn’t made any new friends; being in a city that seemed to celebrate its diversity in a big way, for its size, was definitely beneficial. Still… he wondered what the next year had in store for everyone back home.

He sipped the latte and sighed. Back to Japan in less than a week, huh. 

“Hey, Otogi!” A voice from behind the counter called.

“Hm?”

“You still coming by later to watch the ball drop? Lexi and Marta both wanted to make sure they see you before you leave, you know.”

Otogi smiled. “You betcha. I’ll bring some shots and that new Card’s Against expansion?”

The barista laughed. “Wow you’re treating us, huh; fancy ‘cause you get to beta it before they release it hardcopy.”

“I can’t think of anyone better to help me beta it, to be honest. I haven’t cracked the seal, yet, anyways.”

That got a laugh. “Well I promise not to kiss and tell.”

Otogi smiled. Yeah... he would definitely miss some of this.


End file.
